Death and Innocence
by O'Nyme
Summary: ...His vision was tainted with red ... It was useless; he had lost. He would die". Young Walter has been sent on a mission that will do more than testing his capacities : it will change his vision of himself... Or it will cause his death.


Disclaimer: I don't own Hellsing or its characters.

Death and Innocence

Red.

His vision was tainted with red. Blurriness... A shock. He had fallen down on his knees. What had happened? There had been the shot, the pain in his back, and now the red haziness. But the shot… From where? How? Such velocity… But he was fast, too. And not a novice. How could have this happen?

Another shock. He was now lying at full length on the ground. He felt a hot wetness on his cheek. Tears? Blood? He clumsily moved his arms to try and get up. Unbearable pain. He raised his head. Dizziness... He lied limp again. Intending to keep his thoughts clear, Walter was wondering when on earth evil had come of it?

***

_Earlier th__at night..._

This mission was supposed to imply only one vampire in a deserted manor. The boy remembered that the manor was silent and dark when they entered and that they had to light they path with torches. The rooms of the building were barely furnished and the walls were grey with dust because of the lack of occupancy. The corridors were so narrow that the soldiers couldn't walk in more than two abreast. They were advancing slowly and silently in the passage ways, expecting the vampire to be still asleep for it was only dusk.

Walter was tensed and he could feel that the soldiers were feeling just the same. However, his anxiety was somehow different: he was on edge with anticipation; the other members of his team were only on their guard. The young Walter quickly grew bored with searching for this damned creature in a huge, dark manor.

_It's not a mission for me. They can handle it without me quite well,_ he had thought. _There's only one target and the men are numerous enough to take care of it. What in blazes am I doing here?_

They came up the stairs of the first floor and arrived in a corridor even narrower than the previous ones. It was enough to make anyone grow claustrophobic. Even Walter felt slightly uneasy. Only one soldier was now leading the way; behind him was Walter, followed by several other soldiers. As he was smaller than the man in front of him, Walter couldn't see clearly the way he was walking on and therefore he was forced to rely on him to lead the way and react first if something happened.

And something _did _happen. It had been so fast! Suddenly, the weak, flickering lights died out letting the soldiers blind in the darkness of a cramped corridor. The men stopped dead in their tracks, feeling the growing danger. It was a perfect trap. Walter had no idea about where the vampire was but he knew there was little time before he would kill his defenceless preys.

They just had the time he would need to play with them.

The murderous procession was now becoming victim of the oppressing atmosphere. Walter could hear the soldiers panting with fear; they would soon be unable to fight properly. The boy felt his excitement grow for he was the only one who had a chance to save the whole team. He forgot the rhythm of his heartbeat and focused on the other sounds to locate his target. Suddenly, a loud sound whizzed through the air followed by the disgusting noise of something falling.

_A corpse. The first one_, Walter analysed.

Panic ensued. The formerly trained soldiers lost all common sense and tried to get out of the nightmarish manor. Noises of footsteps, cries, pants and falling corpses filled the skimpy corridor to form a mess of horror. Walter felt the wave of terror claim him as he caught himself panting too.

_Calm down! If you panic you'll die too!__ The vampire has blinded us as a game. It relies on speed to kill. And if that low-life creature wants a duel of speed, I can compete._

The boy concentrated again; he had to locate this damn thing. Soldiers were rattling, others were running to escape. But there was no escape to be found for this manor was a very clever trap for very special mice.

A shouting sound was heard. Walter released his wires in its direction. If the soldier was attacked, the boy's cables would probably hurt the man but he also had a chance to injure the vampire; he could not lose such an opportunity. The wires tensed. A rush of adrenaline filled the boy's veins. He tightened his grip on his prey, hoping to shred the vampire, but the cables suddenly fell on the floor.

Walter was stunned; the creature was really fast. But surely he could compete with it. He _had_ to, or he would die… The boy started when he realised that everything around him was now silent, safe for the beating of his heart. He was the last one…

_So I've been… Too slow?_

He had been sure he could save all of them. But he had been too slow. Too slow! Now terror had got him firmly in its grip. If he could not compete he would lose.

_No way!_

He faced about, searching for his opponent, but only met darkness. He could not lose a duel of speed! He could not lose! His panting was now deafening to his own ears. He clenched his teeth and released his wires again.

Suddenly, Walter felt something that would be his first and only warning of the impending attack: the slight brushing of a soft fabric against his cheek. The skilled child sent his cables in all directions so that he would multiply his chances of killing the damned thing. However, in such a narrow corridor, the wires would only fall back down on their master when they met the ceiling or the walls. Droplets of blood trickled down the boy's face and hands while his eyes searched the darkness. The wires tensed again. Walter immediately pulled at his invisible strings as hard as he could. His efforts were greeted by a sharp cry of pain. The boy smiled smugly; yes, he could compete.

And then there was the shot and the pain.

And the fall.

***

_But __God! What has gone wrong?_

He lifted his head towards the end of the corridor. If he could only reach the first floor, he would live. He didn't want to die! He didn't want to die! He tried to push himself on his elbows but fell back down. His head span more and more. It was useless; he had lost. He would die…

He tried to move again but his body was now completely numb save for the pain in his shoulder. At least he had to stay conscious. But it seemed to him that the floor was dangerously pitching. He blinked hoping to clear his vision but he only managed to increase his nausea. Walter closed his eyes to stop it. After a while, he found himself unable to reopen them; he started losing consciousness. He thought he heard shots and someone laughing… And nothing.

The pain forced him to open his eyes again. It was still dark but this time he could clearly see a raven girl clad entirely in white -a blinding white- leaning over him. The girl smiled gently. The boy wanted to get up but he found out that he could not move. The girl leaned closer and Walter thought her mischievous eyes were red.

"- So you're alive. You're quite interesting, you know" she said thoughtfully.

"- Are you… Death?" he asked weakly.

The girl chuckled and whispered into his ear:

"- It depends to whom, my dear"

***

"- So he is the only survivor"

"- Yes, Master", answered the girl lightly.

The man nodded, watching how the doctors were attending the boy.

"- That's the first time I see him on the battlefield", she stated offhandedly.

The man nodded slowly.

"- He doesn't usually take care of the same cases as you do. We didn't know there was a class A in here"

There was a pause.

"- You did not see him fight, did you?"

"- Somehow, I did"

The man did not challenge the statement.

"- I suppose you noticed some wires on the floor. A human being could hardly have seen them. Well, he uses them as a weapon. And I have to say that he's already skilful"

"- He's had a narrow escape nonetheless"

"- True. The child needs more training"

"- He's not a child anymore"

"- Because he escaped death?"

"- He didn't. I saved him"

"- Is there really any difference?"

"- The same as between being the Reaper and meeting Him"

Her tone forced the man to turn towards the girl again. A sly smile was displayed upon her lips.

***


End file.
